.

Last time I lived in the suburbs:
One neighbor complained about me lighting off the racecar.
Another came over to thank me.
Can't please everybody...

Ha

I got a letter because some "Karen" with her "offspring" drove by my house when I welding with the bottom of the garage door cracked open. The light flash "frieghtened" the little snowflakes... LMAO

I should have framed that one!

I was our HOA president for almost two years because I was afraid they'd create a rule about parking pickup trucks parked in driveways. Luckily our neighborhood is super easy going, and we really only have one to split maintenance fees and grass cutting. I've heard some really nasty horror stories though. However we're building a house now and I'm glad it's not in an HOA neighborhood.

i remember when i bought my house 10 years ago.
i found a house that was absolutely perfect for me. it had everything i was looking for. there was a nice sized lot. 8 car garage with high ceilings to install a hoist, it was just built, with a small house. it was absolutely perfect for a single guy with a car hobby. it even had a great price.
i checked with the neighbors and found out it was in a home owners association neighborhood. this wasn't noted in the realtors listing of the house.
no notation of property in homeowners association area in listing and just built garage and then property is for sale were huge red flags to me. I PASSED ON BUYING the house because of this.
i somewhat regret not buying the house. i still haven't found a house like that in my price range ever again.

I worked in a guys home who bought but they never had him.sign the HOA peppers.
So he said he was not in it. 1st time they sent a letter he called his lawyer who sent a letter stating he was not in it and did not have to abide by the rules.
When i was working they came by and yelled crap at us and him. He yelled back have a nice day no e as could be.

I'm doing a little house shopping right now, and that sounds like exactly what I need: A large garage with a small detached house...

I see the commercials where some Karen is destroying a guy's mailbox and cutting up his plants because it's "against the rules". She'd have been in a world of hurt if that was my stuff, rules or otherwise.

Thanks Cynthia!

Guess you better read the fine print. HOA exists the ensure property values are maintained. Throw a half million into a property only to have cousin Eddie move in and think he can open a car repair business out of his home. That was they are intended for.

I never see myself living in such neighborhood, but I would educate myself on the HOA rules before deciding to buy. My brother looked at a home on a private lake. The informational paper one this house was explicit that an HOA was in effect and advised people have lost homes for violations- not at that place, but to give fair warning that HOA is a legally binding document.

No HOA here other than nosy neighbors that can’t mind their own business.

That's what I heard about you!

Where I live there is not a HOA, in fact, my place is zoned business. There was not a business here for at least 20 years before I moved in and opened one. Apparently a few of the neighbours thought that the business zoning didn't give me a right to actually put a business there. I had a few neighbours that cried a bit after I opened. They were concerned about "all the traffic" I was going to bring to their "quite neighbourhood".

I politely told them I'd purchased the property because it was zoned business and I fully intended on keeping it there. I told them I would do my best not to cause problems in the area, I wasn't going to work nights or early morning, and I probably wouldn't add much additional traffic, I really didn't expect any issues. One or two decided to push the issue. Within a week, I got several visits from local government officials, and I even got a visit from OHSA. I don't have any employees. I have passed all the official tests. These two people still wanted to cause problems, so I got a copy of what I could put on my property according to the zoning it was under. The major truck repair operation was interesting. With just under an acre, I could park up to 3 semis overnight, work around the clock, and install several large overhead parking lot lights, I could light up the entire neighbourhood, legally. Once the few neighbours that wanted to cause me problems found out what I could do with my land, the sound of a small welding shop didn't sound so bad. After 20 years here, every time the city gets a new Nusence Inspector, I get a visit. I always tell them this is a business property that has been operating at this location for over 20 years. Most of the time, they tell me I am wrong, it can't be zoned business. I insist they check. They want to argue with me and tell me how much trouble I could be in, but after I don't get too concerned, they tell me they are going to check. They always return a few days later and tell me I am correct, its a business property. Thanks, have a nice day! Gene

I have lived in my house for 23 years. The first 2 years I actually went to the HOA meetings. Sadly, it always seemed to end with all the old folks screaming and complaining about everything. The younger folks that would actually do things to improve the community would just get too frustrated. After 2 years, I just stopped going and am happier for it.

I can understand the reason for an HOA but the problem is they almost always end up with busy bodies on a power trip who have no experience running them.

We don't have one here but a bunch of those people started a community association without consent of anyone else but luckily it has no power. So far the president has used it for her own purposes- to lobby the city for over 5 years against developers and other petty things that affect her own property and lately she's written petition letters on behalf of the association on questionable subjects without the consent or even knowledge of other members.

HOAs are satanic plain and simple.


People should not be able to attach strings when they sell a place and your neighbors should not be able to gang up on you for using your home you purchased with your hard earned money unless they are willing to make your mortgage payments for you.

This brings back memories.. before we bought our house 27 years ago we lived in a condo : like a comedian once said " condo … they con you out of your dough " . the owners association was just like stated people on a power trip , big egos and complaining about everything. Luckily no one ever complained about my muffled race car which I kept there. Lots of weird neighbors, like the OD ed gogo dancer passed out hanging out of her car early one morning, we called the cops a day later she went screaming door to door demanding who to know called the cops. Our neighbor downstairs that cooked everything with Garlic , loud booms and gunfire from the Army Arsenal just behind the complex. Fun times! We rented it a few years ( another hassle ) and finally sold it 19 years ago this week. One funny story: the property taxes were quite high, we went to a HOA meeting and there was a company there presenting a proposal to appeal the tax rate on each unit for a fee of one half of the first year savings for each unit the owner signed up for. We didn't sign up, my wife and neighbor went to town hall filed a paper we went to the county courthouse for the appeal meeting, the judge listened to the appeal and instated an overall reduction in the tax for all units ( I forget the amount ) . All those people that signed up ended up paying hundreds of dollars to the company, didn't cost us anything except a little paperwork and a little time

The one neighbor that complains about my diesel is moving. My other neighbor will be firing up his Harley so see him off on the day of the move.

If it isn't an HOA it's covenants. We were looking at a 2 acre plot in a new subdivision. Great location, attractive price, all utilities available...then we read the covenants. We got down to the point where the developer could chose your outdoor light, we decided that it just wasn't going to be a good fit.

Dang, we don't even have building codes here.